Those with whom he worked over the years remember him for his "old-fashioned" news sensibility, his commitment to his colleagues, and to journalistic integrity.

Decker had no need for an "iPad or iPhone or any sort of a digital organizer," said Ron Puglisi, who was assistant news director when Decker helmed ABC-affiliate WTEN. "All he needed was one sheet of paper."

Every day Decker would walk into the studio with that sheet in his shirt pocket, and it would be covered in notes "written in every direction, sandwiched (...) so there was no white space," said Puglisi. Whether a reminder to talk to a reporter about a broadcast from the night before, or story ideas born of a newspaper article or from coffee shop chit-chat, those scribbles were his cues for the day.

Walking into his office, "he would tear them off this piece of paper and he would put them on his desk," said Bishop. "He would call you in and talk to you about what was on it, and what we were going to do."

Decker hired Bishop in the early 70's, when she was a sophomore at the University at Albany, after seeing a sports column she was writing for the Times Union. From early in his career, he had a keen eye for talent.

"He loved taking chances, especially when he saw in somebody something special," Puglisi said. And once he made the hire, he enjoyed molding the young reporters and producers, and "showing them how to think, teaching them what's important" explained Puglisi. Bishop was one of many that would be hired by Decker, and onto whom he passed a strong sense of journalistic integrity.

"He wanted you to be accurate; he wanted you to get it right," said Bishop, and Decker would be very adamant about making sure the reporters new exactly what was positive about their broadcasts, and what was less so. If he spotted a minor misspelling, he would be sure to let the guilty party know soon thereafter, but if the mistake was major, he was not loathe to unleash some sharp words.

Tracy Egan worked with Decker at WRGB and again when he moved to WTEN. She remembers Decker's occasional flare-up, which fortunately never fell on her.

"He would come out of his office and he would point his cane, and sometimes he would slam his cane on the table, and that was a sign that whoever he was pointing the cane at had better listen and do it right," Egan said. Perhaps Decker had taken issue with a graphic that did not quite compliment the words and the copy, or perhaps the lead-in could have had improved wording--but it was never just criticism he offered, it was constructive criticism.

"He would not only say, 'the story should been set up better,'" Egan said. "He would tell whoever wrote it how it should have been set up better and why it should have been written the way he recommended."

One of his early hires, Jack Aernecke was brought into the WRGB team in 1972 by Decker, then news director at the CBS affiliate. "The one thing I remember about our initial interview was he said, 'There are times I'm going to get angry. I do have a temper, but always remember whatever I do--it is because I want to make you a better journalist. There's nothing personal involved,'" said Aernecke. He would go on to spend most of his 35-year career at WRGB as an anchor and business reporter.

As a sports reporter in the early days, Bishop remembers waiting for that temper to fall on her. During a lead story about two pitchers on the Yankees with similar names, she accidentally reversed the names, and continued to do so for the length of the story.

"I was so upset, I was physically ill after the show, and I remember Don taking me aside," said Bishop. She then remembers him saying, "Hey Kiddo. If that's the worst mistake you ever make in your career, you just got off easy."

"I feared that he would be so harsh because that was a big, big mistake, and he wasn't at all," continued Bishop. "He knew that nobody could beat me up as much as I was beating myself up."

From the newscasters he tutored, to those who worked alongside him for years, Decker represented the consummate newsman. During his eight years at WTEN, Decker worked alongside John McLoughlin, now a veteran investigative reporter.

On Tuesday, McLoughlin said: "Don was easily the best newsperson I have ever worked for in the television news business."